Fraternity-Testvériség, 2008 (86. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2008-07-01 / 3. szám
FEATURE THE HUNGARIAN CLASSROOM IN PITTSBURGH'S CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING Each year, my husband donates money to support the Hungarian Classroom which is part of the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Only recently was I personally able to visit this room to recognize and appreciate the impact of the Hungarian classroom and the other 21 decorated classrooms on students, ethnic communities and the sponsors who have given generously to support them over the years. It was my first visit, but I guarantee it will not be my last for this is a gem, an embodiment of fraternal giving on behalf of many who have taken an active interest in furthering the beauty and traditions of part of their heritage. In 1921, the University of Pittsburgh was already housed in a few neoclassical buildings on a hillside in the Oakland part of the city when they elected John G. Bowman as the University’s 10th Chancellor. In the years following World War II, student enrollment dramatically increased so there was a critical shortage of space. Thus, the 14-acre plot known as Frick Acres, which housed residences, gardens and tennis courts, became the target of Dr. Bowman’s plan to erect a monumental building that would expand upward to solve the University’s growing student population. It was an unorthodox idea, but Bowman believed this “tower” would be a visible inspiration to all who approached the city and carry the message that education was the result of “aspiring to great heights.” The parallel lines of the Gothic tower would never meet to imply that learning is never ending. Architect Charles Z. Klauder translated those concepts of Bowman into steel and stone that formed a 42-story building rising 535 feet. It took over a decade to complete this structure covered in Indiana limestone carved with Gothic ornamentation that terminated in a “rising wing” motif. Bowman wrote that this building “was to be more than a schoolhouse. It was to be a symbol ...to make visible something of the spirit that was in the hearts of By Kathy A. Megyeri pioneers, as, long ago, they sat in their log cabins and thought by candlelight of the great city that would sometime spread out beyond their three rivers.” Ruth Crawford Mitchell, a dynamic aide to Bowman, planned for the 26 rooms that encircled the center and main Commons Room. Chancellor Bowman then invited Allegheny County’s various nationalities to create classrooms that would represent highly creative periods or aspects of their heritage. As a result, fraternal societies along with school children, labor unions, and church members helped finance these rooms where generations of their descendants would study. Committees were formed to plan the rooms, and, in many cases, foreign governments gave generously to provide architects, artists, materials and monetary gifts to assure that the rooms would be authentic and of superb quality. Even the Great Depression and World War II as some nations were pitted against 20 WINTER 2008 CORNERSTONE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING |]
